Reggatta de Blanc: 1979/80

The Police at the Odeon Theatre...

Where musical styles merge, the hybrid can often be stronger than its constituent parts. Though hard rock and reggae fans might staunchly defend their favoured territories, there is no doubt that the hybrid concoction thrown up by The Police is a potent brew.

Riding the tail of new wave fashion, The Police have had a swift ascent that has brought them a quick return to Birmingham and a capacity crowd at the Odeon.

For all their compactness, this trio have succeeded in opening out rock's musical domain. The use of considerable echo and delay effects alongside the loping reggae rhythms usher in vistas normally found in more exotic climes and a soulfulness rarely found in white bands. They still retain a few roots from the 60s, with occasional touches of indulgent solos and over-long extemporisation.

For the most part, though, the band cruised in new and stylish waters, with drummer Stewart Copeland laying down a chattering rhythmic base over which Andy Summers's rangy guitar and Sting's searing vocals built singular moods. With songs veering from the simple and driving to the complex and multi-structured, The Police cover much ground. But it is in the treatment that they excel and 'Can't Stand Losing You', 'Roxanne' and 'So Lonely' as well as the newer material are all distinguished by a haunting freedom and tension that seemed to come from beyond the Odeon's packed confines.

(c) The Birmingham Post by Paul Kelly